The Next Chapter of the Legendary “Star Trek” TV Franchise Will Premiere on the CBS Television Network, Then Move to CBS All Access Digital Subscription Service

Alex Kurtzman, Co-Writer and Producer of the Blockbuster Films

“Star Trek” and “Star Trek Into Darkness,” to Executive Produce

CBS Studios International to Distribute the Series Globally

For Television and Multiple Platforms

STUDIO CITY, CALIF. AND NEW YORK, N.Y. – Nov. 2, 2015 – CBS Television Studios announced today it will launch a totally new “Star Trek” television series in January 2017. The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.

The next chapter of the “Star Trek” franchise will also be distributed concurrently for television and multiple platforms around the world by CBS Studios International.

The new program will be the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access, a cross-platform streaming service that brings viewers thousands of episodes from CBS’s current and past seasons on demand, plus the ability to stream their local CBS Television station live for $5.99 per month. CBS All Access already offers every episode of all previous “Star Trek” television series.

The brand-new “Star Trek” will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.

Alex Kurtzman will serve as executive producer for the new “Star Trek” TV series. Kurtzman co-wrote and produced the blockbuster films “Star Trek” (2009) with Roberto Orci, and “Star Trek Into Darkness” (2013) with Orci and Damon Lindelof. Both films were produced and directed by J.J. Abrams.

The new series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers. Kurtzman is also an executive producer for the hit CBS television series SCORPION and LIMITLESS, along with Kadin and Orci, and for HAWAII FIVE-0 with Orci.

“Star Trek,” which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016, is one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. The original “Star Trek” spawned a dozen feature films and five successful television series. Almost half a century later, the “Star Trek” television series are licensed on a variety of different platforms in more than 190 countries, and the franchise still generates more than a billion social media impressions every month.

Born from the mind of Gene Roddenberry, the original “Star Trek” series debuted on Sept. 8, 1966 and aired for three seasons – a short run that belied the influence it would have for generations. The series also broke new ground in storytelling and cultural mores, providing a progressive look at topics including race relations, global politics and the environment.

“There is no better time to give ‘Star Trek’ fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”

“This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run ‘Star Trek’ series has gone before – directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access,” said Marc DeBevoise, Executive Vice President/General Manager – CBS Digital Media. “We’ve experienced terrific growth for CBS All Access, expanding the service across affiliates and devices in a very short time. We now have an incredible opportunity to accelerate this growth with the iconic ‘Star Trek,’ and its devoted and passionate fan base, as our first original series.”

“Every day, an episode of the ‘Star Trek’ franchise is seen in almost every country in the world,” said Armando Nuñez, President and CEO, CBS Global Distribution Group. “We can’t wait to introduce ‘Star Trek’s’ next voyage on television to its vast global fan base.”

CBS All Access offers its customers more than 7,500 episodes from the current television season, previous seasons and classic shows on demand nationwide, as well as the ability to stream local CBS stations live in more than 110 markets. Subscribers can use the service online and across devices via CBS.com, the CBS App for iOS, Android and Windows 10, as well as on connected devices such as Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Roku players and Roku TV, with more connected devices to come.

The new television series is not related to the upcoming feature film “Star Trek Beyond,” which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016

In other words: Why pay a premium for content that has advertisements? “The value is the depth and breath of the service that you can’t get anywhere else,” DeBevoise says. Another critic accused them of asking people to effectively “pay for CBS twice.” DeBevoise countered: “This original content is not on CBS, this is extra value.”

My thoughts, from the beginning, which I've noted throughout the thread, is that CBS is overvaluing the Star Trek IP and that this is a terrible idea that will not pay for itself.

I was kind of liking the idea of a Fargo-style TV show with new characters and settings each season. Hopefully they make this a good one.

I'd still prefer to see a post-DS9 series... a year, 10 years, 100 years after... anything like that.

I've been calling for that for years.

My idea is to stick with 2, maybe 3, main characters and move them around from season to season.

Start off with a human male, alien male (think Bolian or Orion) and a humanoid female "will they/won't they?" type of potential romantic interest who start off as ensigns on a mid-size type of ship and have essentially an entire season of TNG's "Lower Decks." showing the ups and downs of Starfleet officer (well, I always envisioned one character being enlisted because a) "realism b) potential for tension a la Miles and Bashir in some eps of DS9) where much of the dramatic conflict comes from superior officers who aren't necessarily bridge crew or from rival lower-ranked officers.

Progress them on from season to season with some good cliffhangers (S1: the core cast are in a precarious away mission scenario, S2: duo/trio get split up because of promotions / re-assignments, S3: ship gets blown up by the end, S4: crucially-located space station is under siege) until you get to a somewhat natural end of the characters' arc and they are in thrust into command themselves.

If Paramount/CBS wants more money, then maybe spin them off into a feature or just bide the time until you can restart the cycle again similar to what 24 has done,

Sounds like he is going to unnecessarily gay it up just to rub people's noses in it because some intolerant assholes sent him hate mail.

FWIW, Andrew Robinson played Garak as if he had the gay love for Bashir and you can still read the character as bisexual by the nature of Garak's profession and by the fact he dated a half-Cardassian woman less out of sexual desire and more out of having something in common among a largely human/almost human social circle.

I couldn't care less that there will be at least one gay character in the series, I just hope it's not "shoe horned in", for lack of a better term, and feels natural to the story.

I'm all about diversity, as long as it works and they're not setting out to tell the story of a non-Caucasian or homosexual, as opposed to a great story, in the Star Trek universe.

That is what I meant but said in my caveman words. Like... if the dude is thuper gay and he is essentially the Kirk/Riker character plowing dudes left and right just for the sake of rubbing some asshole's nose in it.

So it still works, even though he dies 10 years prior to the timeline of the new show? Kirk takes command of the Enterprise in 2264, and the articles states the show is 10 years prior to TOS. For it to work, it would have to be set 20 years prior. Big difference.

CBS’ new “Star Trek” series is quickly coming together, bringing the franchise back to where even the most recent film’s writer and co-star Simon Pegg says is where the franchise is truly at home – television.

“Hannibal” and “Pushing Daisies” creator/showrunner Bryan Fuller is spearheading “Star Trek: Discovery,” though details about it have been kept under wraps beyond brief talk at presentations indicating that its one heavily serialised story across thirteen episodes. It also takes place a decade before the time of James T. Kirk, is set in the ‘Prime Universe’ of Trek, and will follow a female (and likely minority) character who will not be a starship captain.

Today, in a new radio interview (via AICN), Fuller revealed that the lead character in indeed a Starfleet officer and she is referred to in the series as ‘Number One’. Combined with the talk of the setting which takes place around the time of the events of “The Cage,” it sounds like the character will be akin to Majel Barrett-Roddenberry’s first officer from that original rejected TOS pilot episode.

Fuller also revealed that while this first season will consist of thirteen episodes, subsequent seasons will likely comprise no more than ten episodes each due to the sheer amount required to produce the show every year. Part of the reason is also that Fuller is serving double duty as co-showrunner on Starz’s “American Gods” series.

Fuller also spoke about some of the other talent onboard. Nicholas Meyer, who co-wrote and directed the iconic “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” and “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” will be scripting the second episode following on from Fuller and Alex Kurtzman’s pilot. “Wonderfalls” and “Pushing Daisies” alum Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts have also signed on to serve as co-showrunners, while Jesse Alexander (“Alias,” “Hannibal”) and author Kemp Powers have become a part of the writing team.

Fuller says Joe Menosky, who wrote TNG’s “Time’s Arrow” and Voyager’s “Year of Hell” two-parters, was his mentor when Fuller first got started as a writer on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager”. Menosky is involved in writing the new series alongside Star Trek novelist Kristen Beyer and TV vet Aron Eli Coleite who all joined back in June.

Finally, Fuller also confirmed that the first season of of ‘Discovery’ could be the first live-action season of “Star Trek” NOT to utilize a time travel element as every season of the various shows produced between 1966 to 2005 had at least one if not two episodes involving time travel.

“Star Trek Discovery” is slated premiere on CBS in January ahead of subsequent episodes appearing on CBS All Access in the United States. It will stream within hours of the U.S. broadcast on Netflix in many parts of the world.